the life and battles of the teen leaf jinchuuriki
by fractionofzero
Summary: The jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi, the last loyal Uchiha, and the cloud watching Nara, might create an unlikely team, but they aren't with out their own troubles.Starts of near the end of the academy. FemSasuke Smart/stronger than cannon Naruto.
1. Chapter 1

Okay this story was posted before but it was accidently deleated soooo... Some changes, the original capters 1&2 were combined with a small addition at the bottom so yeah... Read, Enjoy, Review!

Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to Naruto, but I do own well... ummm nothing at all. ToT

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'They're all so stupid.' Naruto thought, 'Anyone who can't see through a twelve-year olds ploy at idiocy has to be a complete freakin retard. But, then again, Iruka-nii and Hokage ojii-san helped set it up.'

Walking down the bustling streets of Konoha Naruto ended another day playing as the 'dead last' of his class in the academy.

'I still can't believe they're all such morons though, it makes no sense that the heirs of nearly every clan in Konoha are blind to the deception of a no named bastard.' He ranted in his mind, 'the only one that figured it out was Shikamaru, and I pretty much told him.'

And, as Naruto continued his mental rant he neared the door to his apartment. Digging his hand into his pocket he reached for his key, never noticing the girl standing to the right of his door. The girl cleared her throat alerting Naruto to her presence. Naruto turned his head up quickly almost immediately recognizing the only girl he'd ever truly hated, Sasuke Uchiha. Hate had been something Naruto never understood, he couldn't fathom the desire to hurt someone so much that another would risk their humanity. But whenever he saw Sasuke he'd felt the need to kill her, as if she were some mortal foe who'd gotten away one too many times, or killed one too many loved ones. But truth told he'd had the urge to hurt only three other people in his life and they were all girls and all in his class, but now wasn't the time to think of such petty things.

"Oh, what are _you_ doing here" Naruto said, his voice dripping with distain.

"Don't speak to me that way dobe." She hissed," Besides it's not like I wanted to take a field trip to your shit-hole anyways."

"Oh, then what is it, why is the _honorable _last Uchiha gracing me with her attention. Do you need that stick pulled from your ass, if so I'd be happy to help?"

"Fuck off; I came here because Iruka-sensei told me to, he said it was your birth-day and that he didn't have time to give you your gift." She said, holding his gift out in front of her for him to take.

He quickly grabbed the package from her hands saying," Thanks, now if that's all then leave."

"Fine," she spat turning on her heal and walking through the corridor to exit the complex.

Naruto stole a quick glance at Sasuke as she tore down the hall towards the exit; Naruto had to admit she was very attractive. Naruto found the way her butt moved as she walked to be hypnotizing, and the way her strong legs and hips held her as she moved to be utterly intoxicating. He'd noticed her long jet black hair to be tied in a pony tail as it always was. Her pale skin shined slightly under the florescent glow of the lights above. And her eyes, oh what eyes they were, the coal orbs seemed to look straight through everything, and Naruto swore to himself if those dark spheres ever stopped glaring he would find away to make the owner his.

Naruto scoffed to himself, 'Yeah, like that'll ever happen, I'd probably end up killing her first.'

Naruto turned to open his door finding it locked he berated himself for his distraction and turned the key in the lock.

He walked over the threshold silently placing his gift on his counter and opened it slowly. Naruto's eyes widened slightly as he made it though the cardboard and tissue paper. Reaching in to the box he reverently held the hardback book in front of his face, and eyes never leaving the orange book's cover he reached back in to the box and withdrew a note. His eyes reluctantly leaving the book he read over the note in his hand:

_Happy birthday Naruto, we just wanted to say congratulations_

_For another year, and only one week left of the academy._

_We hope you enjoy the book; you have to wait till you're a genin to read it though._

_Under the back cover is a jutsu that might just help with your bunshin exam, _

_Use it how you like._

_With love,_

_Iruka Umino and Hiruzen Sarutobi_

Naruto groaned slightly,"One more week, stupid age restrictions. At least ninja legally count as adults."

Remembering the jutsu placed in the back of the book he flipped to the back cover and read silently to himself.

"This is perfect!" he shouted, "but, I have to practice tomorrow and I'll have all day because it's the weekend. Oh well, all good things are worth waiting for." He sighed quietly and set the book back on the counter.

Turning Naruto wondered if it was better to try and sleep now and wake early or stay up late then wake later. After a small time of deliberation he chose to wake early if he was to train and start working on the technique given to him. Then he headed towards his bedroom to enter the blissful unconsciousness that sleep provided.

The next morning found Naruto waking with a start at the blaring of his alarm clock.

"Stupid fucking clock," he grumbled, "Always gets me up right at the good part."

Pushing the sheets of his body Naruto rolled off his bed and found his way to the bathroom to wash his self.

Turning the knob for the water lazily he idly tried to remember his dream. Taking off his shorts he inspected his underpants for the source of the wetness he'd felt while taking them off. Finding the culprit he blushed in embarrassment and quickly realized what he'd dreamt about.

"Damn it, not again," he groaned, "This is the fourth time in two weeks I've had this kind of dream. And why does it have to be about _her_ of all people why not Anko or Kurenai."

Stepping in to the shower Naruto realized he'd been talking out loud and cursed himself.

Finishing his shower a short while later he stepped from the steam and proceeded with his hygienic routine.

Completing the ritual he walked back to his bedroom to dress himself. Donning his orange pants and sweater he laughed at the absurdity of a ninja wearing orange. But, the color had grown on him and the neon coloring of his usual garb helped with his stealth and evasion skills.

'Perhaps I will find a shade of tan or brown to dress myself in after the genin exams.' He thought, walking from his bedroom to the kitchen. He picked the orange hardcover book from its place upon his counter, continuing through his apartment and out the door he entered the halls of his complex and quickly made his way to the exit and on to the streets of Konoha.

Making his way through the streets of Konoha without incident save for the few glares and silent curses Naruto continued on his way past the gate that lead to the training grounds.

Reaching his destination he slowed to a stop near the center of training ground 7.

"Alright, I'm here, now for a little training." Naruto said, pulling the orange book from his pocket. He resisted the urge to peek at the books content as he flipped to the back cover where the jutsu lay in wait.

"Hmm, Kage Bunshin no jutsu," Naruto read aloud, "Well Hokage ojii-san did say it would help with the Bunshin exams. Let's see, by using more chakra lets user create a solid clone of them self. Because it relays clone's 'memories' to user the jutsu is most often used for overwhelming enemies, training, and information gathering."

Naruto finished reading the description with widened eyes, "Dear lord! It's like having another me walking around!" he shouted, eyes quickly turning to the directions for completing the jutsu. "Use the ram seal to collect and concentrate chakra then form a cross with the middle and index fingers of both hands." And that Naruto did, over, and over, and over.

It was late afternoon when Naruto decided to stop for the day figuring he'd made steady progress in learning the jutsu.

Walking from the grounds he'd proceeded to do something that had become all most like a tradition after a long day of training.

Covering the short distance between his self and Ichiraku ramen he entered the stand quietly and ordered two bowls of miso ramen and left with the food.

Naruto walked silently through the village ignoring the glares and curses sent his way. Passing the stands and shops that occupied the city's streets he made his way to the large red tower that dominated the skyline before him.

Entering the building he made his way to the stairs, ignoring the contorted face of the woman behind the desk.

Walking up the stairs he turned a corner and knocked loudly on the ornately carved double doors that stood between him and the leader of the leaf village.

"Come in," he heard.

"Hey old man," Naruto said while pushing open the doors, "Got you some lunch. Thought you might be hungry…" Naruto stalled in his speech as he recognized the girl standing before the Hokage.

Sasuke turned slightly to see the cause of the disturbance. Finding the culprit she took in the figures looks. The mop of spiky blonde hair atop the head and tanned face was a giveaway as to who the person was, whisker like marks adorned the cheeks of the boy, and the startling blue of his eyes was almost scary as she found herself being drawn to the depths of the spheres.

"Ya' know it's rude to stare." snapped Naruto.

"Why would I, you're not much to look at." She hissed.

"Now, now, children try to behave your selves, alright." The old Hokage said, speaking to them as he would a toddler.

"Yes, Hokage-sama." came Sauske's reply.

"Fine," Naruto huffed, "so, you hungry old man or do I have to eat the ramen by myself." Naruto said.

"Yes, Naruto I am hungry but, do you not think it rude to let our guest go hungry? Maybe you should run back to Ichiraku and get another bowl for Sasuke here, don't you think?" the aged Hokage said.

"Fine, but someone is going to pay for it. Ramen and money are two things that don't grow on trees." Naruto said, walking out the doors from which he entered.

"Now then Sasuke, where were we." The Hokage said after the blonde had left.

"Children, Hokage-sama." Sasuke mumbled a slight crack in her speech as she uttered the words.

A frown drew upon the once smiling features of the third Hokage. "Ah yes, children. I would like you to know Sasuke that this was not my intention. Personally I'd rather have waited until you where of proper marrying age but, that wasn't my choice to make. It was the council's fault, mostly the civilian side, in hopes of you marrying in to one of their clans. I did all I could to prevent this from happening but in the end all I could do was push back their plans a little, the wanted to have you wed and pregnant by the time you reached fifteen, I pushed it back to sixteen. I'm sorry to say Sasuke but, you have four years to find a husband to your liking or one will be chosen for you by the council."

"Understood, Hokage-sama." Sasuke said in a monotone, though the tears forming at the corners of her eyes where every indication of her emotions.

"Don't worry Sasuke, four years is a long time. I'm sure you will find someone who loves you and you, in turn, may grow to love them."

Before Sasuke could give a reply Naruto walked through the double doors of the office. A scowl adorning his face and a bag clutched tightly in his hand showed he was in no mood for greetings.

"Let's eat," he snapped.

Naruto was happy, it had been four days since he had gotten good enough with the Kage Bunshin to use the in a battle and it was also the day of the exam.

His mood faltered however as he entered his classroom, he took note of the bright, excited faces of his fellow classmates. Them, he really could care less about , but the twenty-nine other students that had already taken seats in the thirty chair classroom meant, by mathematics of course, only one chair was left. And finding that chair, though already knowing the location, pushed the grinning lips on his face to a flat lipped scowl. And the scowl was returned to him in full by the teenage girl occupying the seat beside the chair he was left with.

Though, far be it from him to refuse a gift from the universe that proved he was hated by any and all divine powers and beings that existed in both this realm and the next. He made his way to the empty desk quickly and sat down.


	2. Chapter 2

Hey y'all I'm not dead... yet just been very side tracked... like a lot, so here's chapter two but before you start i'd like to tell you all how disappointed i am that for all the people that have added this story or just plain read it I've only received five reviews for the first chapter. Soo... as punishment here's an eight hundred word VERY short chapter. Oh and the won't get longed till the reviews start coming. And thank you to the FIVE that did review. So relax, read, enjoy, REVIEW OR THE BUNNY GETS IT. Just kidding, but not really.

**WARNING: This is rated M for a REASON.**

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'This sucks.' Naruto thought, 'Not only am I sitting by the world's biggest bitch, I am surrounded by her damned fan-boys and fan-girls too. Dammed fake lesbians, they probably don't even know what scissoring is yet, we're twelve for Heaven's sake, well I'm twelve too but it's Anko-nee's fault, dammed pervy snake-chick. Wait a second,' Naruto stopped in his thoughts and concentrated on the energy that surrounded him, 'That's Sasuke, I know that by the shear amount of anger and sadness she's putting out, but her feeling has changed, I wonder is this… self-pity? Hmmm, well I guess she's been like this since that Saturday. Well it's not my problem. Doe-die-doe-die-doe, Gahh! It changed, it's like she's holding her own pity-party, and it's suffocating. This has to stop or I'll go crazy!' and with that Naruto leaped on to the desk before him and crouched low in front of Sasuke.

"Alright that's enough!" Naruto growled, "I know your brother killed your entire clan in one night and that sucks ass, but personally I don't care, at least you had a family. You've been holding this broody holier than thou attitude for five years and now it's getting worse, when are you going to grow-up and get over it, huh!"

Taking a breath, Naruto felt satisfied with his lecture. Sitting back on his heels Naruto waited for a reply to come, but his reply never came. And he found himself falling face first toward Sasuke. In the positions they were in, Naruto's face would have meet Sauske's half way through. Though instead of sitting still Sasuke moved her head back a few scant centimeters, but those few centimeters allowed Naruto's head come past hers and land roughly on her chest.

Finding his bearings several short seconds later Naruto looked up slowly, and finding the horror-stricken, furiously-blushing face of Sasuke he noted that the room was silent, at least for a little while.

"HENTAI!" several girls in the room shouted

"What the hell dobe, I'm the one she loves, get off her." Shouted Kiba Inuzuka, the dog-wielding boy, while flailing his arms and shouting other profanities.

Naruto pushed himself up quickly and without sparing even a glance towards Sasuke he scrambled almost comically back to his seat.

About the time Naruto made it to the chair Iruka Umino, the instructor for the class entered the room, and using his patented 'Big-head Technique' managed to quite a room full of pubescent children **(hopped-up on hormones, chakra, and violence hahaha)**. Iruka was of an average build and height, and sported the standard clothing for a leaf chunin, a long scar over his nose and a spiked brown pony-tail atop his head.

"Alright children," Iruka started after clearing his throat, "Today you will all be taking the genin exams. But before we start I would like to say congratulations to all of you, who have completed the first chapter in your stories and lives as ninja. Now let us begin, the test is taken in two parts, first a multiple choice test over the history of Konohagakure no Sato and the rules and regulations of standard shinobi procedures and battle field actions. Then, you will be taking a physical evaluation test and a practical ninja arts portion including kunai and shuriken accuracy, the standard academy tiajutsu forms and then the three base ninjutsu; bunshin no jutsu, henge no jutsu, and kawarimi no jutsu. Now the test papers for the written exam are being passed around now, you may begin as soon as you receive one. Yes Naruto, do you have a question."

Naruto after lowering the hand he had raised said, "Yeah umm Iruka-sensei can I change seats, the waves of contempt rolling off Sasuke are going to distract me."

Looking at Naruto quizzically Iruka said, "Just why would she hold any contempt for you Naruto?"

"Cause Naruto-baka's a pervert!" the unwanted call from the pink-haired girl near the front of the class.

"I am not Sakura!" Naruto shouted indignantly.

"Then why'd you motor-boat her, huh?" she replied with a smirk.

"Wait you 'motor-boated' Sasuke as in... you put your head in her chest?"

"N-no, I tripped and my head landed there."

Near the back of the class room a sigh of 'troublesome' was heard along with the munching of chips and a slight buzzing noise.

Still smirking Sakura said, "So, but if you liked it it's still perverted."

"Well that's good because I didn't like it."

"So, are you gay?"

"WHAT THE HELL! Just because I didn't like it doesn't mean I'm gay! I hate her, you hear me? H-a-t-e her!"

"Than why are you getting so defensive?"

"That's enough! Naruto you can go sit by Hinata in the back, Sakura, shut up. Now we're going to take this exam now so no more distractions. Start."


	3. Chapter 3

Hey people, I'm not dead. And yeah I know 'Olny one thousand words after a month?' well yes there are olny one thousand words, first off I had to deal with family things my sister died three months ago and the shock is wearing off so now there are tears and drama, second I'm trying desperatly to raise my geometry grade, and third I am a chronic procrastinator (part of the reason for the geometry grade), and fourth not many reveiws, maybe if i had mor i'd be willing to write more often *hint hint nod nod wink wink* now than on to the story.

As always relax, read, enjoy, reveiw.

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After moving to sit by Hinata in the back of the classroom for the test Naruto soon again found himself distracted, though this time not by waves of contempt or mental rants. This time the distracting factor was the pale-eyed Hyuuga heiress who was, non to secretly, glancing at him than turning away quickly with a blush on her cheeks.

At first Naruto thought the reason for the looks was because his pant zipper was down, but after an inconspicuous glance downward he realized that couldn't be it, he didn't have a zipper in his pants, and they were ,in fact, held up by an elastic band. Then he wondered if it was his breath, so, pretending to cough he breathed into his hand and came to the conclusion that that couldn't be it either, his breath was still minty-fresh from that morning.

'I wonder why she keeps looking over here than,' Naruto pondered fruitlessly. 'What-ever, I'll just ignore it, one outburst and a dose of humiliation is enough for one year, let alone two in one day.

So, Naruto did ignore it, or at least tried to, and by the time the test was over and the bell rung he was anxious to get away from those strange, pupils-less pale eyes.

But it seemed as if Iruka wanted to extend the awkwardness for him, "Please stay seated until I have collected all of your test papers," at least for a little while.

Collecting the papers from the students Iruka returned to the front of the room and set them down on his desk. "Alright students," he said, coughing once to gain their attention, "Now we will be going outside to test your physical ability, tai-jutsu, and accuracy with thrown weapons. Okay children, single file outside."

Scraping chairs and shuffling feet filled the room as Naruto turned to step beside a boy with brown hair pulled up into a spiked pony-tail, rather like Iruka's, wearing a green jacket and black pants pulled tight at the ankles. The Nara heir smirked as he said, "So, do anything interesting lately?"

"Oh lord Shikamaru, don't even start, you know bloody well what happened." Naruto said quickly whilst giving his friend a very serious glare.

"Fine fine, can't you take a joke, you're like my mom." Shikamaru laughed at his own small joke. "So, are you going to do it?" he said, his face turning flat as he asked his question.

"Do what?"

"You know perfectly well what I'm talking about, Naruto."

"I suppose I'll have to," Naruto said, giving a small sigh, "I did with the written part and they might think I cheated if the score is high on that and I do poorly outside."

"Yeah, that's true." Said Shikamaru, covering his eyes as the class made its way outside in to rather bright sunshine.

"Alright class, line up single file by last name please." Iruka said, over the chattering noise, and realizing that he hadn't been heard or that he was outright ignored he shouted.

"PAY ATTENTION BRATS," finding that he was being given the children's attention, Iruka started, "Get in line single file by last name please. We will begin with a complex obstacle course; this course will test you physically and mentally. I will be grading on how well you are able to demonstrate your agility, as well as dodging and deflecting thrown weapons, and detecting small traps. Your goal is to reach the finish in less than two minutes fifteen seconds. We will start with Shino Aburame. Oh, and remember children, the weapons and traps are dangerous, but don't worry too much we have a trained professional here to heal any wounds you may receive. Shino are you ready to begin?"

"Yes," said Shino.

"Then, begin!"

Shino leaped of the ground and strait in to the course, using his multitude of beetles to absorb the impact of the thrown weapons he couldn't dodge, and finished the course less than two minutes later receiving high marks for the test.

The class continued mostly without incident, though when Sakura's turn came she failed miserably finishing just over three and a half minutes with many bruises and scratches from narrowly avoided kunai and rocks.

Though what Naruto found to be the funniest was when Shikamaru's turn came he turned to Iruka and said, "So all I have to do is get to the end of the course right?" when Iruka nodded Shikamaru proceeded to walk to the side of the course and step lazily to the finish in less than one minute. Iruka, looking thoroughly gob-smacked, said "What the Hell was that?" Shikamaru turned to him lazily and replied "All you said we had to do was get to the finish, you never specified how. Besides, it would have been a drag to have to dodge all that crap." Iruka looked at him with wide-eyes for a moment then turned to the rest of the class and said, "Although that was very clever of Shikamaru, and he did fulfill the task given, that was not technically a legal way of passing, he will pass though, but if I have any one else try that than they will fail. _That _is not the way I do things. Now, let's get on with it."

The rest of the tests went normally, a few bumps or scrapes here and there but nothing serious. The class continued down the line until they reached Sasuke and right after her, Naruto. Sasuke shot a glare over her shoulder at Naruto, who shrugged. Then at Iruka's mark she started and finished one minute and a half later with a very confidant smerk on her lips.

'Oh how I want to see that smirk fall from her face after my run. No more dobe for me. Hehehe' Naruto thought, smileing, taking his place at the start line.

"Wipe that smirk from your face _dobe,_ there's no way a loser like you could pass this!" yelled Kiba arrogantly.

"So are you going to do it Naruto?" asked Iruka, once he came to the line. A nod was his only confermation. "I'd be careful if I were you the class is in for quite a shock and you don't know what'll happen once this gets around the village, and to the council."

"Don't worry Iruka-nii, I've dealt with _It _for such a long time and the villagers to, I think I can handle some shrivled up civilians on the council." Said Naruto to in hushed tones," And besides Ojii will help if I get in over my head."

"If you think so, I'll be behind you one hundred percent."

"Thanks Iruka-nii,"

"Oh, and Naruto,

"Yeah,"

"Good luck."

"Thanks, can I start now?"

"Yes, BEGIN"

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A/N: Oh yes, naruto knows about Kyuubi. Hehehe. Oh and its kinda obbious what their talking about in this chappy, But it's okay, i'll probly explain the conections the Nara's have with Naruto next time but i gotta go now itt's late here in Colorado. Bye!

FoZ


	4. Chapter 4

Hello again, not much to say sooo... as always! RELAX, READ, ENJOY, REVEIW! Oh and if you've got any questions leave them in a review on your way out, or pm me, not sure how that stuff works but I'll try to answer as soon a I can.

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"Yes, begin!"

Naruto sprinted into the course, clearing the first hurdle with ease and dodging quickly to the left as a hail of kunai came from above. He ran straight forward again hopping lightly up and landing on a swinging log trap meant to knock him off his course and proceeded to run the length of it to the end where he jumped off and avoid a trip wire that, all was meant to leave oneself flat on their face. He continued to run and spun through a barrage of shuriken and rocks before landing in a roll and starting on a set of hurdles jumping two at a time rather than one.

All the while his class mates were pulling their jaws back from the dirt, as he continued on, wondering why the "dead last" of the class who had always optioned out of physical exams showed such mastery of a difficult course. This was defiantly something to tell their parents as soon as they went home and maybe try the log running thing as well.

Naruto finished the course and turned to Iruka for his time, "One minute and fifteen seconds. New time to beat and record for the course by fifteen seconds!" said Iruka, clearly surprised but proud none-the-less.

Being the first to speak up Sakura yelled, "But sensei, Naruto-baka must have cheated, there's no way that he could have beaten everyone, even less Sasuke."

This brought an up rise from Kiba and the fan-boys behind him, "Yeah there's no way he could have beaten everyone, isn't that right Sasuke-chan?"

But the boys got no answer Sasuke was only staring intently at Naruto, not paying them any mind.

Before anymore comments could be made Iruka spoke up, "Be quite, there's no way he would have been able to cheat, I'm standing right here I would have been able to tell. And besides it's an obstacle course, you can't really cheat at those. It just seems as if Naruto has been hiding a few things from us. Now, enough of that, Ino Yamanaka it's your turn."

They finished with Ino, her finishing just ahead of Sakura and with fewer injuries. Then they moved on to the next test with thrown weapons.

Iruka in preparation for this test had set multiple targets and had pulled out a bucket of kunai and shuriken from one of the academy's store rooms.

"Alright, for the accuracy test you will each take five of both the kunai and shuriken and throw them at the targets. You will receive fifty points for hitting the target and add 10 points for each ring you hit closer to the center circle, making the highest score for each throw one hundred points. The top score for this is one thousand points, but you need only six hundred to pass. We begin again with Shino. Start when you are ready.

Shino, as well as Choji, Sakura though only barely, Hinata, Kiba, and Sasuke, and some inconsequential shinobi hopefuls passed along till it was Naruto's turn. He stood at the throwing line with kunai in hand and shuriken at the ready.

"Now we'll see if he passing the last test was just a fluke." He heard someone behind him say, though he ignored it like all the other comments that had been made.

He took a deep breath and held it there.

"You may start when you're ready." Iruka said looking up from his clip-board.

Naruto lashed out sending all five kunai forth into the target, and the five shuriken came soon after. All of the weapons were snuggled tightly together in the center circle, looking strangely like one target next to it, which had belonged to Sasuke Uchiha.

Naruto turned toward Iruka expectantly for his score, for which Iruka didn't have to move to count.

"One thousand points" he said, in disbelief._ 'When Naruto says he's going to go all out he means it'_ "Congratulations, now let's move on. Ino Yamanaka, you're up."

Naruto walked quickly over to where Shikamaru was resting and sat down next to him.

"Seven hundred and eighty points good job Ino. Now, we will take a break for lunch. It's… twelve thirty now I expect each of you to be back by one thirty. Now go and eat." Iruka said to the class.

"Damn Naruto, you sure know how to show off don't you." The brown-haired boy said, "I mean, skipping nearly all the test this year than pulling this out. Let's just hope this doesn't come back to bite you in the ass. My family's support in the council will only get you so far, especially with the civvies rallying against you."

"It's not so bad, Shika, I've got the Inuzuka's and the Hyuuga's support too, god only knows why though." said Naruto.

"Yeah, that may be, but I hear the Yamanakas and the Amakichis are going to pick a side soon, as well as the Aburames, I'd watch my back if I were you."

"It's nothing I can't handle; besides it'll take a lot more than some wrinkly old wind bags to take me down. And once I'm a ninja I'm officially out of the councils control and under protection of old man Hokage himself."

Shikamaru sighed, "Yeah, but until then they can screw things up big time for you."

"Sure, sure, but what are they going to do in a day?"

"I don't know but you still better watch you're self for the next twenty four hours. What you do now could decide you fate in Konoha for the rest of your life."

"Yeah, yeah, quit nagging, I'll be good. But right now I'm starved."

"You want to go over to my place and eat."

"Yeah!" Naruto nearly shouted, "Your mom's cooking is the best and she's so nice too."

"Nice to you maybe." Said Shikamaru, looking a little bitterly at Naruto.


	5. Chapter 5

Hey all, been a while huh? Well I don't have to explain myself to you, I don't even know you. As always, Relax, Read, Review! Oh and if you don't like it, YOU CAN KISS MY ASS, donkeys need love too, ya know.

I do not own Naruto, nor am i making shit from any of this, SO BUG OFF!

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And so they went, off to the Nara clan compound. They walked for a while, picking Choji up along the way, to the less inhabited space of the village. Slowly but surely the trees around them grew taller and closer together until they were walking in a bona fide forest up to the compounds gate.

The trio ate lunch and spoke with Shikamaru's mother, who chewed out both him and his dad for being lazy, then back to the academy to finish with the exams.

They got back to the academy with minutes to spare, so they entered the classroom again and sat down at a free desk.

Choji, who was at this point drastically confused by the sudden change in ability with in Naruto, asked something that he had been itching to ask the entire lunch break, but had been to absorbed in eating to do so. "So what gives, Naruto? Just yesterday you were dead-last, but now you've kept up with, or beaten Sasuke. There has to be something going on with you, are you taking drugs, or steroids, or… um?"

"No, Choji, I'm not taking drugs, or steroids, I just decided that now was as good a time as any to give it my all. You know?" Naruto said, with a smile.

"No, I don't. If you had done all that… that stuff during the years you could have been rookie of the year, instead of dead last." Choji said, looking exasperated.

"Where would the fun in that be, if you all could'a seen your faces, now that was priceless." Naruto said.

"B-but…" Choji stuttered rather lamely.

'If only you knew Choji just what is really going on.' Naruto thought.

As Choji was trying to find the words to say the three of them, Naruto, Choji, and Shikamaru, turned to see the raven haired girl that Naruto hated and that hated Naruto in turn.

"Oh, hey Sasuke, you come over to congratulate me?" Naruto asked with sarcasm and a sickly sweet smile.

"Stuff it dobe. I don't know how you beat me in the tests, but I'm still better than you. Fight me and I will show you."

"Well, lucky you, 'cause taijutsu is next. Then we'll see if that Uchiha pride is just arrogance,"

"Fuck you, I will beat you, an Uchiha would never lose to trash like you." Sasuke snapped.

Naruto leaned back in the chair slightly and gave Sasuke a board look, "Well this _trash_ has beaten you in every test."

"That doesn't mean anything, you little bastard!" Sasuke screamed, breaking her almost stoic attitude, and drawing looks of interest from those in the room, and leading the annoyance of Sasuke's 'admirers' like moths to a flame.

"Of course it does, you pretentious, spoilt, snobby, bitch." Naruto said, keeping an even tone even as the not-so-kind adjectives flowed from his tongue.

"Hey idiot, you can't speak to Sasuke-chan like that!" shouted a boy from the crowd of bystanders, before he made a lunge forward at Naruto, only to be held back by another, who said, "Don't do it man, you saw what he did on that target, he'd destroy you. And besides grandma says he's a demon, he will corrupt your soul."

The others in the room stayed quiet. Was this really Naruto, who could get worked up, and start yelling about being Hokage at the drop of a hat, but who now was staring at the fuming Sasuke, who was usually as emotional as a brick wall, with a board expression? Or was he really a demon whom, like some oblivious and obnoxious caterpillar, transformed into a cool-headed, talented, and strong kickass butterfly, which would corrupt them all and kill the unborn.

"You hear that, _Uchiha? _I'm a demon, a street rat, someone who has been scorned and spit at from the day I was born, and you'd better stay away. And what are you? Well you're quite lucky; to have been born into, what was once the most prominent clan in Konoha. But your clan has dwindled, wiped out in a single night; all that's left is just you… and Itachi-san."

Sasuke, who had been shaking in rage and clenching her fists in anger as Naruto 'speech' progressed, was pushed over the edge of clear thought with the final add-in of 'and Itachi-san' from the changed blonde before her. She let out a growl of rage and leapt for his throat.

The next thing she knew she had her fingers around Naruto's neck, sitting on his chest, slamming the back of his head into the tile floor underneath them.

"NO!" she screamed, as tears ran down her face, "NEVER SAY THAT NAME, NEVER YOU MOTHER FUCKER! YOU DON'T HAVE THE FUCKING RIGHT TO EVER FUCKING MENTION THAT, GOD-DAMN NAME!" and Sasuke kept slamming his head in to the tile, tears falling, there was a sickening crack, in a sound that could be assumed as Naruto's skull upon the floor, and then what started as a few drops of blood spread into a puddle, a puddle that stained the golden hair of the Uzumaki upon the floor and the pale flesh of the sobbing girl atop his chest.

In a feat of speed and strength no one could had foreseen or thought possible, both the Uchiha and the Uzumaki were flipped.

Naruto held the assaulting brunette's wrists to avoid being hit, as Sasuke squirmed under his grasp and wailed.

/

Iruka was walking along the streets of Konoha, next to the assistant teacher Mizuki, returning from his own lunch at a local tea shop.

"So how about that Uzumaki kid, huh, Iruka, he really is hard to get." Said the silver haired assistant teacher, "He skips out all year on tests and exams, and then he pulls of perfect scores on every test." The man stopped for a moment, and in a hushed voice he said, "Do you think the reason could be… you know, _It?_'

"What?" the scared chunin teacher said, aghast, "No, of course not, do you think that?'

"Hmm, oh no, no, no, no, no, no. but it's always a possibility, you know?" Mizuki said waving his hands in a defensive gesture, as they entered the doors to the academy, the made it slowly to their floor and entered the hall which held the door their classroom.

And that was when they heard the screams. Both chunin rushed in to the classroom and gaped at the sight they came upon.

What looked to be a red haired boy clad in orange was sitting on top of the sobbing last loyal Uchiha.

"DO YOU THINK YOU'RE THE ONLY ONE IN PAIN!" the boy roared, in a voice that was distinctly Naruto's, "AT LEAST YOU KNEW YOUR PARENTS AND YOUR FAMILY! AT LEAST YOU KNEW THEY LOVED YOU! AT LEAST YOU KNEW SOMEONE LOVED YOU!" Naruto shouted, and then repeated quietly, as tears fell from his own eyes, "At least you knew someone loved you." Before he stood and walked out of the classroom, leaving a hiccoughing Sasuke on the blood stained floor.

"So," Iruka started, "does anybody want to tell me what the FUCK just happened."

And the classroom released a breath it hadn't known it'd been holding. And then all Hell broke loose.


	6. Chapter 6

Hey all, just another chapter so, Relax, read, Enjoy the little things, Review or I harm a basket full of... nothing.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto, some guy in Japan, with a lot o' moneys, and way to much time, does. Oh, and I ain't makin' shit for this, at all.

* * *

Shikamaru had known Naruto for four years in the academy, and known that the idiotic persona that the blonde put on was a front, to keep people who had a hatred for the boy at bay, but he could say that he was shocked witless whilst watching the confrontation between his fox-like friend and the usually stoic Uchiha, who now lay on the blood-coated floor, a wreck of sobs and gasps.

Watching the episode had put things in perspective for the Nara heir, but also many more questions than he might have liked to admit formed in an already swirling pool of thoughts about the enigma known as Naruto Uzumaki. Was that the 'real' Naruto who had goaded the heiress of the Uchiha into a blind, sobbing, violent rage, just by mentioning her murderous sibling?

And what was the deal with his last comments before he left the room? Didn't he know he was loved? Everyone knew that the Hokage loved him like a grandchild, and that Iruka was like a brother to him, and that nearly all of the ninja forces in the village enjoyed the small trainee's company, the latter fact not quite as well known to the civilian population.

This was all getting rather troublesome to the lazy ninja-to-be, and the noise that had erupted after Iruka had come in wasn't helping matters much. Shikamaru looked over to Iruka, who was trying to regain a semblance of order in the classroom, but utterly failing, even his famous demonic head jutsu had failed several times, and Shikamaru could see the desperation starting to well in the pineapple haired chunin, and he knew that he was going to be pushed to use the instructor's fail-safe, a genjutsu or an illusion that would put everyone into a slumber brought on by clouds of white feathers. Shikamaru then looked to where Sasuke still lay upon the floor, her admirers vowing revenge and proclaiming their love for the crying Uchiha but being too scared of her to actually pull her from the floor.

He then looked over to the large boy sitting next to him; Choji was looking where he had only moments before. Shaking the boy Shikamaru and Choji locked eyes for a moment and both understood the wordless message between them; they needed to get Sasuke out of the room.

Both boys stood from their sets and walked in to the mass of bodies surrounding the Uchiha, they pushed in to the crowd, Choji using his large frame to push though and Shikamaru following in the boy's wake.

Choji bent down slightly and pulled the tearing hiccoughing girl into his pudgy arms, and held her up bridal stile. People were much more complacent to move out of the way as they saw who was in Choji's arms and the look upon Shikamaru's face, as they forced their way towards the door.

As they passed through the open door they still heard the shouting as the door closed and one final shout of the low ranked genjutsu that promptly lead to silence.

They walked closely together towards the stairs, Choji lead their two man procession with the now sleeping Sasuke still in his arms as he climbed the stairs. Shikamaru fell close behind thinking about Naruto and the unconscious Sasuke in his friends arms.

Eventually they, Shikamaru and Choji, completed the flights of stairs that lead to the roof and pushed their way past the steel door that lead outside on to the open concrete surface.

Choji lay Sasuke down on one of the many concrete benches that lined the edges of the roof, and took a seat on the ground next to it were Shikamaru lay looking up at the clouds.

They sat I silence for a while, interrupted only by Choji crunching on a bag of chips he had open after he sat down, before they heard, "Why did you bring me here?"

"…" both Shikamaru and Choji were hesitant to answer, and remained quiet.

"You'd better answer me, I know you're not asleep Shikamaru, and you're chewing really loud Choji. So why'd you guys bring me here, aren't you Naruto's friends or something. Don't you guys hate me too?" Sasuke said, looking up at the clouds overhead.

Choji again stayed silent to the questioning, asking himself the same things inside of his head. Why did they bring Sasuke to the roof, to get air perhaps? Maybe, but truth be told he'd only been following Shikamaru, really like he always had. And was he Naruto's friend? He and the blond had only talked a couple times, sure they'd skipped class together once or twice, but Shikamaru had been with them. They were both just mutual friends of the lazy pineapple haired kid.

"It would have been troublesome to have you go into shock on the floor surrounded by all those people, so we took you up here to get some air, but you fell asleep." Shikamaru explained from his place on the ground, after a moment he stated up again saying, "Naruto's really not that bad of a guy, he's just had to deal with more things than most people have to deal with in a life time, since he was born. Did you know that a lot of the stores around here have an extra 'tax' for Naruto that nearly doubles the price of everything her has to buy. Did you know that from the time he was born to the time he entered the academy he'd been shut up in his little crappy apartment every single birth-day?"

"Oh really," Sasuke snorted," that's so sad. Now am I supposed to be moved to tears and repent everything I've ever done? Or maybe you want me to apologize for beating his head in, and then we can become the best of friends? That's not going to happen." Sasuke said, pushing herself off the bench and into a sitting position," Let me ask you something, did you know that my father was so ashamed of me being a girl that he attempted to have me killed off during the Kyuubi attack twelve years ago, but when that failed he settled with giving me a boy's name, a fucking boy's name, I guess if he couldn't have a son he might as well call his daughter one. Did you know that I had to watch and re-watch my parents being cut down by my own sibling for twenty four hours, before being forced to swear vengeance? Did you know that the council of this mother-fucking city expects me to be married by the time I'm sixteen and then start popping out babies like a little Uchiha vending machine? Just pop a dick in and nine months later shiny new set of eyes comes out. So before you try and guilt trip people learn about their problems first, and plus I don't even know Naruto, we've talked only like four times, and he's always the one that starts shit or did you not see what went down in there, and I don't expect we'll ever be on the same team either, considering his shitty grades, so back off." Sasuke stood, and strode over to the door that connected to the lower levels of the academy building. "I'm going back to class… or what's left of it." She said loud enough for both Shikamaru and Choji to hear, before opening the large steel door and making her way down the stairs, the door swung back shut with an echoing clatter.

"Well that was certainly _fun_" Choji said, sarcastically,"What do you think all that was about Shikamaru?"

"I don't know, but this is all getting troublesome." Shikamaru said with a sigh," It seems those two are more alike with every passing second today. Come on Choji let's go back to class."


	7. Chapter 7

Hello ma platypeeps, ja miss me? I know I missed me. On to the story then? Good!

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto and it belongs to a Japanese guy, though I'm flattered you would think I owned it.

Oh, and in things which might be alphabetized I used the English alphabet, cause I'm from America and we speak English in America, not Spanish contrary to Mexican belief...

AMERICA! FUCK YEAH!

* * *

Naruto was livid, and he was sure he shouldn't be. Sure the Uchiha had slammed his head into the floor repeatedly, but the anger started much before that, and lasted much longer as well.

It was like, as soon as she entered the room he could sense her, every breath and every movement was captured by him. And then the things he'd said, not just then but every time they'd spoken, those words didn't belong to him, sure they came from his mouth but _he_ didn't say them.

'If that damn, useless fuzz bag has anything to do with this I'll make his life a living hell.' Naruto thought in rage.

The Kyuubi, the very same that had attacked his home twelve years before, had been working its way into Naruto's life ever since its discovery nearly four years prior, putting thoughts into his head, inserting emotions, and on a rare boost of strength, quite often when the Uchiha was around, manifesting its self through Naruto's vocal chords, spouting words of revenge and death, or cold insults that uncovered painful experiences and horrible and dark secrets, no one would know that this ever happened though, Naruto over the years could usually sense when the fox's power had built for an oncoming , though temporary, possession, and locked himself in his meek apartment until the fox's powers had drained.

But, the fox wasn't nearly all bad. It had shared some rather juicy bits of information on a certain Kushina Uzumaki, the Bloody Habanero of Konoha, former jinchuuriki of the nine-tailed, demon fox, and Naruto's biological mother. The fox had also spilt the beans regarding Mito Senju, formerly Mito Uzumaki, the first host to the powerful kitsune, and wife of the Shodai Hokage, Hashirama Senju.

Though a specific bit about the other half of his gene pool fell short with the fox, who said that was information he was under oath not to tell a soul, living or otherwise, upon a pain worse than death, an eternity in the death god's stomach.

But all of this rang as inconsequential within the blonds' mind at the moment.

'I'm going to make that damned fox talk if it kills me.'

/./././././.

"HEY ASSHOLE, YOU GET OUT OF THIS TREE RIGHT NOW, YOU HEAR ME?" the irate blond yelled in to a precariously leaning tree, with an overly large, bright red fox like being, cowering betwixt its leaved branches.

Naruto's once bleak and dreary sewer space of a mind had change in the four years he'd known about the Kyuubi. It seemed that with every secret revealed to the boy, the crumbling foundation of Naruto's young mind corroded away until they were left in a fenced field of short-green grass and monstrous trees.

In this new cleared mind Naruto was able to do things he'd never been capable of before, and was, for all intents and purposes, omnipotent with in his consciousness, hence the cowering demon within the tree.

"**I don't wanna; you're just going to yell at me again."** The fox replied, in the same voice that lead to the soiling of lesser men's pants. Though Naruto would have none of it, he huffed indignantly and shouted.

"Your damn right I'm going to yell at you, you fucking idiot! Now get outta that tree before I kick your ass all the way to Kumo and back!"

"**You can't make me." **The kitsune said, rather childishly.

"Can't make you? Can't make you! Now you listen hear you son of a bitch, this is _MY _mind and I can do what_ever_ the hell I want to, you got that? You might be able to get away with the possession shit while I'm on the outside, but in here **I AM GOD!"** Naruto roared manically as clouds began moving across the pseudo-sky within the mind space, "Now. Get. Out of. That. Tree,"

"**No,"** the nine tailed demon said. Lightning flashed across the storming sky and thunder boomed throughout the valley landscape. Dust devils formed over the grass and the leaves of the trees quivered. The forming wind held an edge of bitter cold and a razor sharpness that promised pain for the fox.

'**What have I done?' **the once all powerful bijuuthought in despair, before the tremendous oak it perched in fell, as a tangible blade of wind passed through it swiftly and cleanly.

"You've been messing with that girl and I for four years. Its time you stop!"

/./././././././.

Naruto left his mind after, what was in all essence, a beating of the fox. And while it ultimately relaxed the boy, it cleared up the reason why the fox had even started possessing his voice in the first place, and why the majority of the events took place around the Uchiha.

Apparently a man with a spiral mask and a spinning eye had taken control of the fox and lead him on a path of destruction, one October night twelve years ago.

And when the fox awoke he was within the shiki fuin with no way out and no memories of the prior night aside from being pulled from the weakened seal in Kushina.

And that wasn't all. Apparently, a long time before Naruto was born, after the founding of the village hidden in the leaves, the same man had summoned him to fight against the first Hokage, and lost. It was in that same battle that he'd been sealed the first time, with in Mito Senju.

So, as it turned out, the fox was really just a vengeful bastard, that found a way to hurt the Uchiha and used it.

But, while 'putting the fox in its place' the demon had said something that had concerned Naruto. Warning him that his growing physical attraction to the girl would only lead him to pain, Naruto deigned it though, claiming that even without the influence of the fox he would have hated the Uchiha anyways though, he did admit there was physical attraction, the dreams he'd had were enough of an indicator of this fact.

"But,' Naruto decided, "It takes more than a nice ass to actually mean something."

The blond looked up at the sun and sighed. It had been nearly an hour since he'd walked out of the classroom. He absently wondered whether Iruka had gotten the class under control after his departure.

'Damn those kids were loud.' He thought, as he turned to walk back towards the ninja academy. 'Maybe we'll still have time to finish the exams.' He mused, hopefully.

And then the thought of apologizing to Sasuke passed through his mind. 'How does someone go about apologizing for being possessed?' He asked, 'I wonder if telling he r the truth would work, how would "hey, sorry about before. But there's a demon sealed inside of me that hates some really, really old guy that made him attack the village a couple times, and the old guy is related to you and, the demon thinks that hurting you will be revenge or something. Sorry." Yeah _that'd _go over real well.' Naruto sighed, for what seemed to be the millionth time that day, as he approached the double doors that made the entrance of the Shinobi School. He made his way up the stairs to the level his classroom was at.

When he entered the hallway that held the door to his classroom he'd just barely managed to catch a glimpse of the dark blue shirt and the tinted black hair that belonged to the girl that had occupied the majority of his thoughts that afternoon.

Naruto continued on towards the sliding door, until he caught sight of his long time friend and his burly acquaintance, and was beaconed over to talk with them near the bathroom doors on the other side of the hall.

"I know this is going to be troublesome, but do you want to explain just exactly why you two flipped out on each other like that. Or, did you two just decide to piss all over everything today?" Shikamaru said, sound rather perturbed, and crossed his arms over his chest, staring down at the small blond boy.

Naruto breathed deeply, knowing that he wouldn't be able to move until he gave at least some kind of answer. He looked over to Choji and saw the same question written across his rounded features.

"Look, guys, it's a long story, and I'd rather not talk about it, okay? So, can we just get back to class and see if we can't become ninja already." Naruto said, rather hopefully. Wanting almost desperately to avoid answering; it wasn't that he didn't want to tell them the truth, but a worry came over him at the thought of what anyone else would do, and how the civilian council might skew things up before he left their control and was moved safely to the Hokage's command, if others found out about his 'tenant' too soon.

"What a drag," Shikamaru drawled, "Fine, mom'd be pissed if I didn't pass today anyways. Let's go Choji."

The three boys crossed the hall and opened the sliding door to the eerily quiet room.

White feathers coated the floor along with twenty-six sleeping, ninja hopefuls spread around the room in awkward positions; lead the youths to believe that Iruka had indeed used the instructors fail-safe.

Naruto could have sworn he'd heard a mumble of, 'lucky bastards' from his lazy friend.

The trio made their way over to Iruka, although the pine-apple haired chunin was in conversation with the black haired Uchiha heiress.

"Hey kids," said the silver hair teacher's assistant, sitting on top of a row of desks. The man, Mizuki, dropped a suspiciously familiar orange covered book and stuffed it into one of the many pockets that adorned the chunin flak jackets, "y'all had us a bit worried there when we couldn't find you. You really had us in for quite a show today, Naruto." the man chuckled.

Naruto ducked his head and rubbed the back of it in a sheepish manor. "Sorry 'bout that, Mizuki-sensei."

"Don't worry about it, Naruto-kun, though, Iruka-sempai's going to want to talk to you boys." Mizuki drawled.

"Boys," rang a call from the front of the room.

"Speak of the devil; he must have just finished with Sasuke-chan. You better head along now." The silver headed man said.

/./././././.

As it turned out, Iruka only wanted to know where they had gone, and to ask them if they were still alright to finish the exams, which they had agreed to.

So, the sleeping students were woken and the exams had resumed.

Taijutsu as it turned out was the next on the procession of tests, and as a whole the class moved exceedingly well. The test was made up of a spar between students, managed by Iruka who looked on and judged form and practical use.

'Of course,' Naruto thought, 'the clan children have been trained in their family techniques since they were little, so they'll have no problem.'

And that fact showed its self true as soon as the first spar began.

Shino Aburame, a quiet kid, dressed in a large grey coat, which hid his mouth, and brown pants, stood in front of the class facing some rather unimportant shinobi hopeful.

The spar, while fun to watch, made it obvious to anyone the difference in skill between a clan child and a first generation ninja wannabe.

The match lasted about a minute, and Shino dominated all fifty-four seconds, landing heavy blows with his clans fighting style while the other boy only managed glancing blows and light strikes in a sloppy version of the academy's standard form, before the match was Shino's favor.

And matches progressed in the same manor with Choji, who used his size and weight to his advantage in his family's style, Kiba, who used fierce and wild attacks to overwhelm his opponent into submission, Sakura, while not from clan ended her match surprisingly quick in a show of near monstrous strength and anger when her opponent stated she had a large and ugly forehead, and then came Hinata, who quickly struck pressure points on her adversary and then apologizing repeatedly with a strong blush. Next was Shikamaru, who, in a show of his utter laziness, forfeited and fell asleep.

"Next," Iruka said, clearing his throat,"Sasuke Uchiha and," Iruka hesitated a moment and looked down at the roster for the class,"Naruto Uzumaki."

The class erupted in a madness of noise.


	8. Chapter 8

I'm back and the story progresses, albeit a little late but, what are you gunna do 'bout it bitch! Just kidding, you're not a bitch, yet. Anywho, as always relax, read, enjoy, review.

DISCLAIMER: This is a fan based fiction, all rights to names and concepts belong to Masashi Kishimoto, VIZ Media, and other respective owners.

* * *

"Everyone SHUT UP!" Iruka shouted, and the roar of noise dulled to a murmuring in the background. "Naruto-kun, Sasuke-chan, If you please." Iruka said, motioning towards the sparing mat.

Naruto nodded and stepped to his spot. Sasuke did the same, standing opposite of him on the other end of the mat.

'No matter how good he may have gotten, he won't ever stand a chance against Sasuke-chan." Naruto heard amongst the murmurings in their audience.

"Yeah, no matter what he does he will always be dead last next to my Sasuke-chan." Someone else said.

"_Your_ Sasuke-chan? Ha, fat chance; it's obvious that she is mine."

Naruto blocked the squabbling out, focusing on the girl before him. He'd noticed though, the angered way her lip and eyebrow had twitched when others had started to claim her like she was some toy to be had.

'That's certainly new,' Naruto thought, 'usually she just ignores them. I wonder what's going on. Could she be on her period? That's what always makes Anko-nee crazier, well if that's possible.'

"Are you two ready?" Iruka asked, interrupting his train of thought, and with their nods of confirmation he signaled that their match had begun.

Naruto took the initiative and moved forwards, first to attack with a high kick aimed at Sasuke's head, to which she counted with a low sweeping kick that took the blonds' supporting leg from beneath him. Naruto felt the slight sensation of vertigo of falling, but he never hit the floor instead shifting his weight in tight acrobatics to land on his hands and flip back to compose his self. Only to be meet with the image of a fist moving quickly at his face, ducking low and moving up inside of Sasuke's guard he place his own fist into the gut of his adversary.

He heard Sasuke wheeze as the air left her lungs but paid it no mind instead he did it again and again, landing a powerful hit to her solar plexus and on her sternum. Sasuke leaped back and fell to the floor coughing and wheezing, holding her chest.

Iruka looked over at the black haired girl concernedly," Are you all right Sasuke-chan?" he asked, and receiving now answer he started, "Winner-"

"No!" Sasuke interrupted," I can still fight."

"Are you sure Sasuke?" the instructor asked.

"Yeah, I'll be fine." She said, standing up.

"Well, if you insist, then go ahead." Iruka conceded.

With those words Sasuke made the first strike, a wide kick aimed for Naruto's side which was caught by the blond who now used that leg and, the lack of balance Sasuke had from standing on one leg alone, to his advantage. He kicked her standing leg from beneath her and dropped with her to the mat. Flipping her on to her stomach, he pulled and twisted the ankle in his grasp as he sat upon the girls back, electing a yelp of pain from the Uchiha.

"What the hell is he doing?" Sakura said in her screeching voice, "That can't be legal, and it looks disgusting to!"

"I believe what Uzumaki-san is doing is called grappling, and while not a common thing amongst shinobi fighting styles I assure you that it is perfectly legal." Shino said in his near monotone voice.

Naruto had to grin, leave it to an Aburame to see the logic in a move.

"And while that hold might look sexual in nature, it is not at all a viable position for procreation."

And leave it to an Aburame to create an awkward atmosphere in a room with that logic.

"Ew, what? God Shino, what the hell." Ino said, indignantly.

"Come on Sasuke, just yield already. You already know that you can't get out of this. I may be shorter than you but physically I am stronger."

"Not a chance in hell, asshole; an Uchiha would never submit to trash like you."

"Again with the trash bit, I would think an _Uchiha_ could think of something far more colorful than that. But, whatever, if you won't quit now that I guess I have to up the pain a bit" Naruto said, almost enjoying his spot of dominance. But up the pain he did, in a show of flexibility and strength he rolled, grasping the girl's unoccupied ankle in the same arm that held the other one and taking her wrists in his hand and planting his feet in her spine. He flipped them completely; to where he was on his back bending the Uchiha's spine to unnatural positions with his feet.

"F-fuck!" Sasuke screamed. She could feel her vertebrae shift and pop in her back as the boy beneath continued pulling and pushing, increasing the strain on her back. Tears welled in her black eyes and she saw the shocked looks that her classmates gave her as she cried out, it was humiliating. She was supposed to have dominated this fight; she was supposed to have had him at her mercy, not the other way around. He was the dead-last, he'd optioned out of nearly every test he could and skipped the ones that were mandatory, and he literally had no grade in this class aside from an okay attendance record and a few 'above average' scores for random pop quizzes. And she, she was the kunochi-of-the-year, she excelled at everything, and if it weren't for the sexist customs that were still very much a part of the ninja world she would have been the rookie-of-the-year.

And where was she now? In a painful and humiliating position, with tears running down her otherwise flawless pale face and no choice but to submit lest the blond rip her apart. It already felt like she was tearing in half, and after an extraordinarily loud pop she cried out again.

"GOD DAMNIT! IT HURTS, IT HURTS! Let me down damn it, I give up!" tears streamed freely down her face as she cried. And once back on the ground she bit her lip and stood up as straight as her aching back would let het her and as far as her pride demanded. It was all she could do not to curl up on the floor and bawl, what would her family have thought if they were still alive, her father would have been furious and immediately pushed her into training, her mother would have tried her best to make her feel better, and it would have worked because her mother knew her like no one else and was kind to her like no one else too, except for Itachi.

Itachi, what would Itachi have thought about this, would her elder sibling have been disappointed in her. No, Itachi would never have been disappointed, her sibling would only have flicked her forehead and said, "There's always next time."

Sasuke felt a pull in her chest; thoughts like those had always made her feel empty and alone.

The match, of course, was called in Naruto's favor. And the class shared a collective jaw drop.

"What was that, Naruto?" Sasuke heard the blonds' lazy friend ask. She noted that he'd sounded perturbed, as if it could mess something up irreversibly.

She stopped paying attention to them but over the noise of the other students she heard the blond say, "It's called grappling, I thought Shino told you this stuff, you know, about it not being a viable position for procreation." Sasuke could almost hear his grin.

"I know what it was, idiot. I meant why you did it, I told you to behave for at least until you were officially a ninja, and you can't even seem to do that." He sounded angry now, something that was surprising considering his laidback nature.

"Your words wound me so, Shika-chan. And I don't see why you're getting so worried; I mean seriously what's the council going to accomplish in what… half an hour. Come on Shikamaru, lighten up."

'The council,' Sasuke thought, 'What do they have to do with someone like Naruto?'

"Whatever, but if you end up in a mess I'd be getting the hell out of Dodge if I were you. There's only so much that can be done for you."

"My, my, Shika-chan don't worry so much, it's not good for you."

"Troublesome," Shikamaru said, and with that word she knew that the conversation was over,

/././././././././

Naruto felt as if he were on top of the world. He'd flabbergasted his entire class, beaten Sasuke, and passed his entire genin exam with flying colors after he'd used the Kage Bunshin to pass the clone jutsu.

And now, the only thing that remained his head band. The hitai 'ate was undoubtedly the most important piece of clothing for almost any shinobi. It was what signified one was a ninja and where they came from. And without it one would easily be mistaken for a civilian.

All he had to do was pick one up and he would be one step closer to his ultimate goal.

'Icha Icha, here I come.'

Well, maybe not his ultimate goal, but it was still pretty high in the rankings.

His fingers briefly slid over the cold metallic surface of the forehead protector, he could almost feel the cotton strip, snug on his forehead.

"Naruto Uzumaki," he heard coming from behind him.

"Son of a…" the blond sighed in exasperation, turning around to face the speaker, an ANBU nin clad in a cat mask and a tight grey shirt said, long purple hair fell to her shoulder blades behind her and framed the feline themed mask upon her face. 'Aw crap, it's the fuzz!'

"Yes, what is it?" he said, irritated by the interruption.

"Naruto Uzumaki, you have been summoned by the council of the leaf and are expected before them immediately. Come along now." The cat masked women ordered.

Naruto's face paled to a deathly white and he felt his stomach turn, 'Oh crap, oh crap, oh crap! Why didn't I just do what Shikamaru said? I knew showing of was a bad idea.' Naruto thought.

"Come on, Uzumaki. Or you might find that I am not a very patient women." The ANBU said, Naruto could hear an impatient tone creeping in to her rather beautiful voice.

"C-coming, Neko-san!" Naruto called, before turning and grabbing one of the many hitai 'ate on the table behind him and exchanging glances with both Iruka and Mizuki, before turning and following the cat ANBU out of the room.

/././././././

"Congratulations, Naruto-kun." The purple haired ANBU said, as they walked down a less traveled road to the Hokage tower.

"Thanks, Neko-chan!" Naruto smiled brightly up at her whilst tying his new hitai 'ate around his forehead.

"I thought I told you not to call me Neko-chan, Naruto. I am an ANBU; call me Neko-_san_, Naruto-kun. If people saw us talking so freely I could get in a hell of a lot of trouble." The kunochi chastised.

"But we're alone right now, Neko-_chan_." Naruto said, a disarming smile playing across his lips.

"Naruto-kun, this is a ninja village, no matter where you go inside these walls you're never alone." She said, felling like quite the adult in telling him this.

"Even when I poop?" her blond traveling companion said, throwing her for a loop, "That's gross, Neko-chan. I didn't know you were in to that type of thing."

The cat ANBU stared at the boy next to her, resisting the urge to laugh. The way he said things like that could defuse nearly any situation, no matter how dire.

"Just kidding, Neko-chan. I think more than anyone I would understand that." Naruto said as they reached the front doors of the Hokage tower. "Well, wish me luck, Neko-san." Naruto said, turning around to face the ANBU, before entering the large red building.

"Good luck, Naruto-kun." The kunochi whispered as the large doors closed behind the boy.


	9. Chapter 9

Welcome to chapter nine of the life and battles. Not much actually happens, but hey what did you expect. So, short chapter, only like, nine hundred words.

As always, relax, read, enjoy, review on the way out.

* * *

Shikaku Nara was what most would describe as a laid back man. Leader of the Nara clan and 'head jonin' of the village hidden in the leaves, he was a responsible man, albeit rather lazy. Preferring cloud gazing and a long game of shogi to the mound of paperwork that seemed to pile up in his office.

'The only reason I ever get anything done is because of Yoshino.' He thought with a sigh, ignoring the loud councilors around him, one Tsume Inuzuka in particular. 'If Shikamaru doesn't find a troublesome woman like her than the Naras will go bankrupt and die out.'

Shikaku sighed once more, 'Why are we ever here, don't these people have anything better to do. Like take a nap.' He thought and stifled a yawn, folding his arms he laid his head in the makeshift pillow and decided on a little bit of sleep, before hearing the one name he'd hoped he wouldn't hear at all today.

"What's this I hear about Naruto Uzumaki graduating?"

"The way I hear it he's passed every test with flying colors. He even beat Uchiha-san in taijutsu."

"Impossible, Sasuke Uchiha is a veritable prodigy, not nearly as good as Itachi mind you, but advanced far beyond her peers. If Uzumaki has indeed beaten her than he must have finally been taken by the fox, I knew it was a bad idea keeping that boy away from Danzo. Shimura-san could have created a weapon loyal only to Konoha; no doubt the fox has already taken over the child and is now only waiting to strike. He must be dealt with be for the day is through, or there is no telling what he might be capable of."

"Excuse me," Shikaku drawled from his chair, though instead of the lazy visage and board tone that many had come to know the Nara's by, now sat a man who seemed a complete opposite of the clan head. Back straight, head raised, and eyes open and piercing.

"I said…" the man started.

"I heard what you said." Shikaku said cutting the man off, "As did everyone else in this room. So, Honda-san, how does your shoe taste?"

"I beg your pardon."

"I only ask because, well, you've just stuck your foot in your mouth." Shikaku said.

"W-why, I never…" Honda sputtered.

"You see, Naruto-san's 'condition' is an S-ranked secret, and you , Honda-san, have just broken the Sandaime's law." Shikaku explained.

"B-but…" Honda started, only to be cut-off by a raping at the door.

"What is it?" Hiashi Hyuuga called to the door.

"Naruto Uzumaki is here, as requested. Would you like me to send him in now?" came the muffled reply though the door.

"Naruto, who requested him?" Hiashi demanded.

"Honda-sama, I believe, sir."

Hiashi sent a glare at the man and Tsume growled low in her throat.

"Send him in," Shikaku said.

"Yes sir,"

A moment later the diminutive blond entered the room, the boy bowed low to the councilors.

"Naruto Uzumaki," Hiashi started, "do you know why you are here."

The blond swallowed nervously, "No sir, Hyuuga-sama."

"Neither does most of the council," Tsume mumbled, drawing the faintest wisp of a smile to Hiashi's face.

"Yes, as Inuzuka-dono has stated, neither do we." Hiashi said, before turning to face Honda, "So Honda-san would you care to explain why Naruto-san is standing here, missing the last hours of the academy?"

The Honda glared at the man before setting his gaze on the boy in front of him, "Of course, Hyuuga-dono. Naruto Uzumaki, you stand before this council because," Honda stopped for a moment, the man's cheeks where beat red, he'd be humiliated, the ninjas had caught him with his back against the wall and he struggled for a minute to find something to turn this conundrum in his favor, "of your future, and what is to become of you."

"I-I'm not sure I'm following, sir."

"I'm talking about who is to train you, now that you have become a ninja." The man stated, a vicious grin playing across his features.

Naruto's eyes widened and Shikaku's narrowed.

"Sir," Naruto started, a draw of ire pulling in to his voice, "I do not quite understand."

"Well, Uzumaki, what I mean is-"Honda said.

"I know perfectly well what you mean, Honda-san. But a civilian cannot interfere in shinobi business without the Hokage's consent. Assigning teachers is shinobi business, and... I do not see the Hokage, Honda-san." Naruto cut the man off.

"Boy, you would do well to remember your place, I demand your respect!" Honda shouted.

"You can demand all you want; I would like Hokage-sama and Danzo-sama to be here before we speak of my 'future'."

Shikaku stared at the blond in shock, 'Is this really Naruto?' he thought, 'Just a week ago he was acting as dull as an old kunai, now he's got a tongue that could put Shikamaru to shame.'

Hiashi let a full smile play over his lips and Tsume sent a glance his way.

The rest of the ninja council, which had remained quiet until then guffawed and laughed quietly at the reaction of Honda, whilst the civilian portion seemed aghast at the possibility of the Hokage entering this situation, "You have no right to request the Hokage, _boy_" Honda said, outraged, his face turning an ugly shade of purple.

"That, Honda-san, is where you a severely mistaken." Came a voice from near the door of the room.

"Hokage-sama!"


End file.
